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WRITING 2--INTRODUCTION TO ACADEMIC WRITING
SOURCES REGARDING CAMP X-RAY AND CAMP DELTA
Brief history of the Geneva Convention http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/EUgeneva.htm
History of Camp X-Ray http://www.nsgtmo.navy.mil/JTF-160/Facts/XRay.htm Updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 In 1993, during the Haitian migrant operation "Operation Sea Signal" at Guantanamo Bay, a number of migrant camps were set-up at "Radio Range" the site of the Naval Base's radio antennas on the south side of the base, and the future site of the more permanent detainee facility. To identify the camps, a name was designated to each to correspond with the phonetic alphabet used for official military "radio" communication (Camp Alpha, Camp Bravo up to Camp Golf). When additional sites were established on the north side of the base, camp names were designated using the opposite end of the alphabet, to include Camp X-Ray. Today, Camp X-Ray is the only camp site on the northern side of the base and is currently used as a temporary detention facility.
From "Detainee population swells at Guantanamo" June 17, 2002 Posted: 11:23 AM EDT (1523 GMT) http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/06/17/gitmo.detainees/index.html For the fifth time in just over a week, the U.S. military Sunday transported al Qaeda and Taliban detainees to the U.S. detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Military officials operating the camp said 34 detainees -- who had been held in Afghanistan by U.S. forces -- were brought under tight security to newly constructed cells at Guantanamo. The total number of prisoners at the site, known as Camp Delta, stands at 536. The detention facility was expanded at the end of May to handle 612 detainees, leaving 76 cells empty and ready to fill. U.S. Central Command officials said about 100 detainees remain imprisoned by U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The U.S. military began bringing detainees from Afghanistan to Cuba in January, and housed them at a temporary facility called Camp X-Ray. Camp Delta was first occupied on April 28. Those held are suspected terrorists or are suspected of supporting the Taliban regime in Afghanistan that was ousted as part of a U.S. anti-terrorist push after the September 11 attacks.
From "Briton among Afghan war detainees" January 13, 2002 Posted: 6:04 AM EST (1104 GMT) http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/01/13/inv.cuba.prisoner.briton/index.html A U.S. military spokesman said the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent charity would have access to the prisoners "to verify to the world that they are being treated as humanely as possible under the circumstances." Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. defense secretary, said the men were not prisoners of war but "unlawful combatants," and therefore had no rights under the Geneva Convention.
From "UK faces Camp X-Ray legal threat" February 26, 2002 Posted: 7:15 PM EST (0015 GMT) http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/02/26/inv.camp/index.html
Earlier this month, President George W. Bush said the Geneva Convention regarding prisoner rights applied to Taliban prisoners -- but not to captured al Qaeda terrorists. But his administration has refused to consider classifying any of the 300 detainees from 26 countries as prisoners of war, saying they were fighting for an outlawed terrorist group and an unrecognised government. Lawyers and Abbasi's mother, Zumrati Juma, expressed concern on Monday about the lack of access to her son…"I'm frightened he is being treated badly, and being kept in a cage without any exercise. I don't believe Feroz is being given freedom to talk about the conditions he is being kept in, or his health." She has received a letter from him, marked "prisoner of war mail." A Foreign Office spokesman told PA: "We have asked the U.S. to clarify the legal procedures under which the detainees might be prosecuted and we have passed on requests from the families for access by lawyers." Meanwhile, three U.S. human rights organisations filed a petition on Monday challenging the detention of the suspects without charge or "prisoner of war" protections. The Center for Constitutional Rights, the Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School and the Center for Justice and International Law called the detentions illegal in a petition filed with the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The commission can intervene when human rights are threatened in one of the 35 member states of the Organization of American States. However, its power is largely one of influence.
From " Stop This Brutality In Our Name, Mr Blair" Monday, January 21, 2002 in the Mirror of London http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0121-02.htm This is what is being done in the name of humanity, civilization and the British people. These prisoners are trapped in open cages, manacled hand and foot, brutalized, tortured and humiliated. We are assured they are cruel, evil men, though not one has been charged, let alone convicted, of any offense. Yet that does not justify the barbaric treatment they are receiving from US forces. Barbarism which is backed by our Government. Tony Blair says he is standing shoulder to shoulder with President Bush. Not on our behalf, he isn't. Mr Bush is close to achieving the impossible - losing the sympathy of the civilized world for what happened in New York and Washington on September 11.
From " Prison Terms" by the Editors of the New Republic Post date 02.14.02 | Issue date 02.25.02 http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020225&s=editorial022502 Criticisms of the Guantanamo Bay policy fall into four categories--none of them convincing. The first concerns allegations of actual mistreatment. After captured Taliban and Al Qaeda members first began arriving in Guantanamo on January 11, the Pentagon released photos of the prisoners in shackles and blacked-out goggles; cries of "inhumanity" quickly followed. The British newspaper The Independent likened Guantanamo Bay to a concentration camp; the Mail on Sunday tabloid ran the headline "TORTURED." But in fact, as has since become evident, the conditions at Guantanamo are far from inhumane. The pictures that sparked the outrage were taken shortly after the prisoners' arrival, while they were in transit to their cells--and most likely to revolt. Once the inmates settled in, the goggles and shackles were removed. Moreover, the prisoners are entitled to hot showers, prayer mats, and three meals per day. They also receive medical care. (One prisoner even underwent surgery for painful glaucoma resulting from an injury sustained five years ago.) Little wonder then that Taliban being kept in the Shibergan prison in Afghanistan recently shouted to an Associated Press reporter, "We want to go to an American prison!"
From "Amnesty warns over 9/11 'abuses'" May 28, 2002 Posted: 2:54 PM EDT (1854 GMT) http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/05/28/amnesty.report/index.html "The UK and United States have used the September 11 attacks as an excuse to "ride roughshod" over human rights, Amnesty International says. The group says emergency legislation imposed after the attack was an assault on the pillars of human rights such as the Geneva Convention, the rights of refugees, and the right to a fair trial. Fears over national security and the drive for an international coalition against terrorism, with the UK and U.S. at the helm, has led to "hypocrisy, selectivity and double standards", said Irene Khan, Amnesty International general secretary. Launching the organisation's annual report in London, she said: "They have created a shadow criminal justice system that deliberately goes around the principles of human rights with great secrecy and that is very dangerous."
From "Inside Camp X-Ray" http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/americas/2002/inside_camp_xray/default.stm Images of blindfolded prisoners kneeling shackled by wire cages at Guantanamo Bay have ignited international controversy. The use of restraints, covered goggles, ear muffs and face masks has raised fears that the US is mistreating suspected Taleban and al-Qaeda prisoners.
From "Truth Serums & Torture" By Martin A. Lee, ALTERNET, via The Consortium June 11, 2002 http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13341 William Webster, former director of both the CIA and FBI, put the "truth serum" issue into prominent play in April when he urged use of drugs to loosen the tongues of suspects, such as Osama bin Laden's aide Abu Zubaydeh and captives held in cages at Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The debate soon spread to cable-TV talk shows. On Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor," for instance, retired Marine Lt. Col. Bill Cowan said he doubted "truth serum" would work but hoped Webster's suggestion would lead the Bush administration to try torture. "Maybe it'll be an entrée to take us to the next step," Cowan said. "I kid around with people about plugging them up to a 110-volt outlet and flipping the switch if they don't want to talk."
From "Second wave of Afghan detainees comes ashore in Cuba" January 14, 2002 Posted: 10:11 p.m. EST (0311 GMT) U.S. Lance Cpl. Patrick Distin on Sunday guards entrance of U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/01/14/gen.war.against.terror/index.html
Military sources in Kandahar said Sunday that U.S. forces are holding some detainees who had "plans to one day travel to the United States and kill Americans." Information and intelligence gathered in Afghanistan indicate a direct connection between al Qaeda fighters in custody and planned terrorist attacks in the United States, sources said.
From "Camp X-Ray takes toll on some guards" March 17, 2002 Posted: 11:46 PM EST (0446 GMT) http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/03/17/gen.guantanamo.psychological/index.html GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (CNN) -- Four U.S. service members assigned to guard detainees from the war in Afghanistan have been transferred to new duties at the Guantanamo Bay naval base, a U.S. military spokesman said Sunday… "The bottom line is the guards did not violate any security procedures, did not violate any detainee handling procedure," Cox said…The two, Cox said, had "expressed a general level of uncomfort working inside Camp X-Ray" and met with psychologists before the transfer. One U.S. military official said the two were carrying out "support duties," doing jobs that don't require direct contact with the detainees… "Not all people are built for that kind of job," explained Brig. Gen. Michael Lehnert, commander of Camp X-Ray. "Working on somebody who is an avowed enemy of the United States, who is sworn to kill U.S. citizens -- that sets up a certain psychological angst," Lehnert said. "We want to get to them before it becomes a problem."
From "Defending Guantanamo" http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/interactives.html (select U.S. Military in action, Defending Camp X-Ray) "These people that we're guarding are dangerous. We're taking the necessary precautions to protect ourselves and to protect them from each other." --Capt. Robert Patterson, US Marine Corp. "We have them detained now. I think we're doing the world a good service." Sgt. Stephen Fischer, US Army. "I'm not a bloodthirsty killer. I don't want to kill anybody here. None of my marines want to kill anybody here." ---Sgt. Matt Lampert, US Marine Corps "It's scary to think--they may be respectful to me right now, but the first chance they got to get out of that cage, they'd slice my throat as quick as anybody else's…" --Pfc. Jody Smith, US Army
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